Tracking the time spent by an employee (or contractor) on various tasks is a critical component in the operation of an organization. Typically, the organization requires the employee to manually track and record the amount of time being spent on each task using, for example, a timesheet. A timesheet may record the start and end time of tasks, or just the duration. A timesheet may also contain a detailed breakdown of tasks accomplished throughout the project or program. This information may be used for payroll, client billing, and increasingly for project costing, estimation, tracking and management.
At the end of each day, week, month, or as dictated by the policies of the organization, the employee submits the timesheet to an organization's administrator who then manually re-enters the timesheet into the correct systems (i.e., payroll, billing, reporting, etc.). Both the completion of the timesheet by the worker and the entry of the timesheet into a system by the administrator are opportunities for human error.